Absolutely beautiful day up Noonmark. We started off with 4 people around 8 in the morning. A late start, but it was going to be a short hike. Th trail up Noonmark reminded me of the high peak trails just a bit further down the road. A stead steep with some crazy steep spots. With the rain that had come through earlier in the week, it was not as snowy, and there was plenty of ice. Towards the top the snow started to dominate and we could have justified switching to snowshoes, but it wasn't really that deep....
Today was a day for winter hiking... although it won't count for winter credit. The day started with it snowing as I reached exit 24 on the northway, and roads were being a little slick the rest of the way in. My GPS said I'd arrive at 621 when I started, I got to the lot about 650 after stopping for a coffee and breakfast sandwich... the conditions cost me about 20 min and I was happy that I had left as early as I did.
Wanting to get more winter practice in, I added on my snowshoes and ice axe since there was measurable snow fall just beore I went hiking. All the hikes were short, but added up to nearly 10 miles in the end.
These are some of the furthest I've driven for a fire tower yet. Azure Mountain is a short hike, but as you would expect, it's just steep. The first third was a nice road, the second third was a good climb with a switchback, the the last third was a muddy mess until you got to the tower where there were lovely views from the tower and the ledges.
In my quest to do all the fire towers, and my desire to get used to my heavier winter pack, I did 2 fire towers. First up was Goodnow. This is maintained by SUNY ESF and last winter they did some logging to study different methods of reforesting. That was clear on the way in as you walk through the experiment. But overall, the trail was a lovely trail, gentle, and the views from the top were just wonderful. I didn't get on top in time to see the sunrise, but I did see it on the surrounding hills. This is for sure a repeat hike for me in the future.
With the start of the colder weather, it was time to bring out the winter pack, and to start getting used to the larger weight. Today I did the Mt. Adams Fire Tower. I knew going in that this was a steep, and unrelenting hike. The wintry mix that I got hit with on the way in didn't make it any easier. The hike in to the trail junction was quite easy, but the climb was difficult. It was part due to the heavy pack, part due to the wet and slippery trail. Boy, they were right when they said it was a steep hike.
What does one do after they spend 8 hours sitting at a trailhead talking to hundreds of people? They go for a hike, of course! It was peak foliage or damn near it this weekend, and it was busy. I wanted to do Mt. Jo just to get a GPS track of it for the Lake Placid 9 and to see the new long trail. I get down to Loj, and it's a mad house. There were actually rangers ticketing people on Loj road for illegal parking. I turn around and go down meadows lane to do Mt.
This was a quick hike... literally. It took longer to drive to the trailhead than it did to hike it. We were up in the area for the Peaks and People seminar series in Elizabethtown put on by the Grace Hudowalski Charitable Trust. We went to the seminar, then an early dinner/late lunch, and then hit this on the way out. The trail is literally 0.2 miles of road to a cell tower, with the fire tower being a little bit further up.
Having a nice day ahead of me, I decided to do Gore. I went up from an unusual trailhead, the Raymond Brook Trail instead of the Schaefer trail out of the resort. This route is a ski trail until it hits the Schaefer trail, and it was beautiful and obviously not well used as I didn't see a single person on it. What I did see though was a startled black furry butt running away not far from the start. My first thought was it was a bear cub, but it was way too small to be that. Instead, I think it may have been a fischer I spooked.
After taking the heart of the summer off from hiking, I got back into it with one easy hike with a couple other people I met through a hiking group. I was not leading this, but I know the trail, so gave advice as needed. Original plan was to hike up and back. I talked the group into making it a little longer and go on some real trails (the shortest hike up is mostly forest road). So a loop was made. It was absolutely beautiful, and the temperatures were more than tolerable. Twas a good day.